Thursday, January 25, 2018

Quote Of The Day - Barriers


E.J. Dionne, Jr., has some good advice this morning:
The Democrats’ feuding factions could start by laying off the self-righteous preening about how they are, respectively, so principled and so practical. The truth is that the aspirational left can’t win without the pragmatic center, and the center can’t win without the left.  
Instead, they should be highlighting what the shutdown made clear. In mobilizing raw nativism, Trump and the Republican leadership underscored the extent to which they are hogtied by their party’s right-wing extremists. As a result, the GOP is incapable of temperate governance and compromise. The barrier to sensible legislation in Washington is not a left that lacks any institutional authority, but the hard-line right in the White House and in the House of Representatives(our emphasis)
That nails it pretty well. 

BONUSInfidel has a good read on the subject, too.

3 comments:

DivaNewYork said...

Dems need to coalesce around a defining strategy. I think the biggest problem we have is that liberals are such free thinkers that it's hard to herd them like the GOP herds around the anti-choice issue.

One of the blogs I read this morning (can't remember which one) said we should put a name to the Dreamers. Make it personal (like what was done with Amber Alert) so it doesn't seem so detached. And then use it as an albatross (thanks Samuel Taylor!) around the necks of the GOP into the midterms. Dems should keep hammering about this subject every chance they get. Use the GOP tactic against them. Hit hard.

donnah said...

Agreed! As I've been harping about, we need to coalesce around new framing on immigration. We have to get the news out in clear language that we are a nation of immigrants and we can offer a safe life to those who seek a home. Dreamers are proof that people can come from other countries and enrich not only their lives, but ours as well.

Republicans win when they hammer the airwaves and blogosphere with their messages. Dems have got to fight back. We have to strike on different fronts, and as we get closer to November, we need honest ads that spell out how important voting is and how we need a variety of races and religions to keep pur country balanced and strong.

We need messaging on what the Democratic Party actually stands for overall as well. Human and civil rights, first and foremost. And that means humans of all colors, sexes, and beliefs.

W. Hackwhacker said...

Diva - you're thinking of No More Mister Nice Blog; they offered that way of making the issue personal.

donnah - right on!